Impeders are used in high frequency welded pipe and tube fabrication processes. They are one or more pieces of ferrite, or other magnetic material, that is placed inside a pipe or tube within the weld area. This magnetic material accomplishes two things. It increases the electrical impedance of the inside current path of the tube, forcing the current to flow on the vee edges of the tube instead. It is this current that heats the vee edges prior to forging them together in the weld box. Secondly, it creates a low magnetic reluctance path inside the tube between the apex of the weld vee and the rear of the tube. The lower reluctance path becomes the preferred path for the magnetic field. Thus more of the magnetic field generated by the tube welder's induction coil or contacts passes through the weld vee to utilize this preferred path, and the welding current induced on the vee edges is thereby increased. U.S. Pat. No. 4,443,677 further describes the induction welding process and one type of conventional impeders.
There are many practical problems encountered with conventional impeders. The magnetic field that the impeder carries causes losses in the ferrite due to its finite resistivity and its coercivity. These losses heat the ferrite, and if heat is not removed through proper cooling, the ferrite's Curie temperature (the temperature at which a material looses its magnetic properties) can be exceeded or the binder that holds the ferrite material together can disintegrate. Ferrite is a brittle material and mechanical shock encountered during the tube fabrication processes can cause it to break into multiple pieces. When this happens the effective magnetic properties are greatly reduced. The ferrite is usually enclosed in a jacket generally made from a fiberglass type material. This helps protect the ferrite from mechanical shock and provides a means for channeling cooling water to the ferrite. When fabricating smaller diameter tube, the diameter of the ferrite must be as large as possible so that the impeder does not magnetically saturate. This results in tight clearances between the ferrite and the casing. Thus the cooling water must not contain contaminants that can plug the coolant passage between the ferrite and its casing. When this happens, the ferrite will fail almost immediately due to local over-heating. Temporary interruptions in the coolant supply can cause steam to develop inside the impeder casing. When this happens, the ferrite can temporarily exceed its Curie temperature and this can result in a section of “cold” or paste weld in the tube.
An object of the present invention is to provide an impeder with internal cooling that operates with improved efficiency.